Shoe-fastening.



PATBNTED MAY 9y 1905.

H. A. LITZ. SHOE FASTENING.

AP1 LIOATION`PILED AUG. 3, 1904i Witt/1 @amm STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT Ormea.

HERMAN AUGUST LlTZ, OF DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASS'IGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CARL LITZ, OE DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

SHQEr-F'ASTENlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,330, dated May 9, 1905. Application filed August 3, 1904. Serial No. 219,387.

To (LZ/ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, HERMAN AUGUs'rLi'rZ, a citizen of Switzerland, residing at Danville, in the county of Montour and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful 1mprovements in Shoe-Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in boot or shoe fastenings; and its purpose is to facilitate the opening or closing of boots or shoes with little eli'ort on the part of the operator.

The various features of the invention will be hereinafter fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a side elevation of a shoe, showing the improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a part of a shoe, showing the arrangement of the fastening' with the shoe closed; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the leg of a shoe.

Referring to the drawings, l represents a shoe having the improvement applied, the upper quarters 2 of which are provided with the usual front opening 3, which enables the foot of the wearer to enter the shoe. At the lower end of said opening 3 is a hook or catch 5, placed at the head of said opening 3, adjacent to the vamp l2, and secured to the shoe-upper by clenching-prongs on the inner side of the shoe or by any other suitable means.

Arranged along each side of the front opening 3 are a series of segmental guides A, placed opposite each other, slightly concaved on the circular side for the reception of the elastic lace 6. These segmental guides may be made of leather, rubber, or metal and are fastened to the shoe-uppers by rivets, by sewing, or by any other suitable means.

At the upper front portion of the upper quarters 2 of the shoe hooks or catches 7 are located, secured by rivets or otherwise one on each side of the shoe-oiiicuing 3 and arranged to face each other, which hooks are engaged by the lace 6 when the shoe-opening is closed. The lace (5 may be endless or it may be cut and the ends united by an ordinary clasp-lock 8 at the top of slice-opening' 3.

The lacing or unlacing of the shoe is facilitated by tab 9 at top of opening and by ring l() at bottom, which enables the operator to easily grasp the lace and disengage it from the hooks. The ring 10 may be used also to engage the hook 5 at bottom of opening 3 instead of applying the lace directly to hook.

Attached to the guides A by rivets or threads passing through said guides and top 2 are flaps 12, entirely covering the guides and arranged to overlap each other when the opening of the shoe is closed. These flaps 12 may be made of leather or any other suitable material, and the object of the same is to protect the clothing from catching on the guides -and to present a neater appearance of the shoe.

The form assumed by the lace when it engages the hooks and 7 and when the opening 3 is closed is that of the iigure 8, the lace crossing above, between, and below the semicircular guides A.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the lacing' is in the position shown in drawings, it is disengaged from hooks 7 or hook 5, or both, and the opening 3 in shoe is made wider by pulling apart the uppers 2 by a hand on either side of said opening. Thus the wearer is enabled without any difficulty to either put on or take ofi the shoe.

This form ofshoe-fastener may be applied to the front, side, or back of a shoe, and it is not limited to the 'precise construction shown and described; but it is desired that I may have the liberty to make such changes in the form of the invention as may fairly come within the spirit and scope of the same.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination with a shoe of segmental guides arranged in pairs at the sides of the opening in the shoe-upper, iiaps extending over said guides, and a lace extending' around each of said pairs of guides and crossed between adjacent pairs.

2. .`he combination with a slice of segi mental guides arranged in pairs at the sides of the opening in the shoe-upper, flaps eX- tending over said guides, and an elastic lace extending around each of said pairs of guides and crossed between adjacent pairs.

3. The combination with a shoe of segmental guides arranged in pairs at the sides of the opening in the shoe-upper, flaps eX- tending over said guides, a hook at lthe lower end of said opening and a lace extending around said hook and around each pair of guides, said lace being' crossed between adjacent pairs of guides and between said hook and the lowerrnost pair or' guides.

4. The combination with a shoe of segmental guides arranged in pairs at thesides of the opening' in the shoe-upper, flaps eX- tending over said guides, a hook at the lower end of said opening, an elastic lace extending' around said hook and around each pair of guides, said lace being crossed between adjacent pairs of guides and between said hook and the lowerinost pair of guides.

5. The combination with a shoe of segmental guides arranged in pairs at the sides of the opening in the shoe-upper, flaps eX- tending over said guides, a hook at the lower end of said opening' and a pair of hooks arranged at the top of the upper, one at each side of the opening, and a lace extending around said hooks and around each pair of guides, said lace being crossed between ad jacent pairs of guides and between the upper and lower hooks and said guides.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this speciticationlin the presence of two subscribingI witnesses.

HERMAN AUGUST LITZ.

Witnesses:

CARL LITZ, A. HQGRONE, 

